Euphoric California
by captorvating
Summary: in which its practically love, even if no one admits to it.  drabbles. au for the most part.
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer:: for every entry:** nope. nada. i'm not talented enough to own a best-selling book series. ask someone else.

**important information:** yeah, hi. I amuse myself with the idea of demigods in a school - be it college, high school, or some fancy boarding school. the actual place is never specified. i meant it when I said it was AU. and I also meant it when I said drabbles. the "chapters" will rarely be over 1000 words. it should have started with them meeting, but it didn't. i should probably write that one eventually. and it has absolutely nothing to do with cali.

* * *

><p><strong><em>word count: <em>**_377_  
><em><strong>notes: <strong>my art teacher said the very first line to two kids in class once. _

"Excuse me, you two… What are you up to back there? You look like you're in love."

The atmosphere surrounding the pair dimmed. The lazy grin slid off Octavian's face as he shifted in his desk to face forward. He looked over the curious glances and amused looks the entire class was giving them and scoffed. "Sorry, _sir_," he spat, lacing the word with as much venom as he could muster. "but I do believe you've got your facts wrong about that."

The teacher shrugged. "Then maybe you should pay attention." He ignored Octavian's answer and turned his attention to the girl sitting in the desk beside him. "….I don't even think you're in this class."

"No, I'm not," she said. "I'm a visitor." Unlike the boy beside her, she seemed to be able to brush off all the looks and the comments. In fact, she was probably amused by it. As soon as the teacher went back to the lesson, she turned in her seat to face him. "Wow, you look annoyed."

He said nothing for a while, merely stared blankly forward. "I don't like this class," he muttered finally. "That teacher is in an incompetent idiot."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. You think everyone's an idiot."

"Not everyone." He looked away from the front of the room, leaning closer to her.

"Oh, right. I'm the exception."

"Of course you are."

"…And you owe me StarBucks."

"What? Why?"

"As a reward for being the one person that you don't see as an idiot."

He sighed. "Yeah, all right."

"Actually, make that lunch with StarBucks."

Octavian frowned. "…Are you trying to bankrupt me?"

"If I was trying to bankrupt you, I'd ask for much nicer things than just food," Rachel said with a smile. "Am I seeing you for lunch or not, augur?"

"Yeah, yeah. See you at lunch, Oracle." As Rachel stood to leave, he kicked the back of the chair in front of him, whose occupant had overheard their last exchange and was snorting laughter.

**_extra notes: _**_everything is Rachian. it's a good thing._


	2. Chapter 2

_**word count: **427_

She was enjoying the music, dancing to it with the other, crazier fans. On the other hand, all of it combined was giving Octavian a raging headache. The loud music, the shrill (in his opinion) voice of a boy he swore up and down hadn't hit puberty yet, the screaming girls... It was absolutely ridiculous. So, he found a place away from the noise, in the main lobby of the arena, to sit with a cold drink.

It was hot, he was hot, and he was wishing sorely that he could take off the jacket he was wearing without anyone questioning the SPQR tattoo on his arm. He glared down at whatever was in the cup in front of him, unable to remember what he'd ordered, and cursed everything that had made Rachel Dare enjoy this type of music.

A thunk on the opposite side of the table made him look up. Another boy was sitting across from him now, with a sympathetic look on his face. Octavian raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but do I know you..?"

The boy shook his head. "No, but I think we're in the same boat."

Octavian only stared at him.

"Your girlfriend made you come, right?"

Rolling his eyes, Octavian straightened up. "I don't have a girlfriend. You're mistaken. Please leave me alone."

The boy's eyes lit up and, instead of leaving, he leaned forward. "Then that pretty redhead that came in with you," he said excitedly. "you two aren't together? So that means she's single right, and I could-?" He stopped suddenly, staring at Octavian in a bewildered fright. "Woah, man- What are you doing?"

As soon as this random, far too eager boy had mentioned Rachel being single, Octavian had swept the cup filled with some sort of liquid off the table and leaned forward. His hands were now clamped on this strange boys' arms, just below his elbows. "Just because we're not dating," Octavian growled. "doesn't give you the right to automatically turn her into a piece of meat. You can't claim her."

The boy nodded nervously. "Yeah- yeah, I get it-!"

"I don't know who you are," Octavian continued. "but if I ever see you around that amazing girl, I will mince you alive." He let go of the boy, stood, and walked back over to the concession stand.

And the boy, frightened and very wary, backed away from the table slowly.


	3. Chapter 3

_**word count: **542  
>prompt given by Alie. pardon my late updates and detail failures.<em>

School had barely started. Octavian was in the lounge, sitting alone on a couch in the corner and scraping a love note off a steaming cup of coffee. He was frowning heavily and mentally cursing the amount of tape used to adhere the note to the cup when Rachel sat down next to him.

"More love notes, then?" she said. "That's a lovely thing to see in the morning."

"What are you doing here, Rachel?" he asked, not looking at her.

Before she answered, Rachel looked over the nearly empty student lounge. "Well…" she started, scooting closer to him. "My parents are having some kind of fancy dinner party or something."

Octavian ripped the remainder of the note away, grinned in victory, and settled against her. "That's fascinating."

"They're making me go."

"Good for you."

"And you're coming with me."

His grin vanished instantly and he looked over at her, confused. "…What? Why?"

"My parents parties aren't that great," Rachel said, smiling. "so I think it's only fair that you have to suffer with me this time."

Octavian's confused melted. He frowned again. "How is that fair?"

"Because I have to suffer with your attitude every day and this party is only one day." She grinned widely and patted his leg lightly. "You owe me this."

He grunted. "I seem to owe you a lot of things."

"Be there at seven. Exactly seven." She started to leave, but paused and turned back to him. "Oh, right. I meant it when I said it was fancy. Wear a suit. Rent a tux. Something."

Octavian watched her leave, drinking slowly from the drink in his hands. A dinner party was bad enough, but a dinner party with Rachel Dare's parents was just overhaul. He had never planned on meeting her parents, and silently told himself that he wasn't going to her house no matter how angry she'd be the next day. And yet, at two minutes to seven, he stood in front of her door, pulling at the sleeves of a rented tuxedo and chiding himself for giving in.

Thankfully, when the door swung open, he was greeted by Rachel and not one of her parents. Thank you, gods, he thought. He sighed, locked eyes with her, and practically shut down. She was talking, he was positive about that, but he wasn't hearing any of it. He stared blatantly, until she snapped her fingers in his face. "Stop staring," she ordered.

He paused just long enough to think that he didn't have a good excuse, this was going to end badly. Then he shook his head slightly, smirked, and said, "Sorry. Haven't seen you in a dress before. Not used to you looking so… feminine."

Rachel crossed her arms, smirking right back at him. "You want to try that again?"

"You look absolutely gorgeous," he said truthfully.

"Yeah, I know," Rachel grinned. "You don't look so bad yourself." She reached forward, took his hand, and yanked him inside.


	4. Chapter 4

_**word count: **705_  
><em><strong>notes: <strong>once upon a time, i amused myself with the idea of Octavian being hit on by one of those over-sexualized young girls. and then this happened. _

It had started as irritating; it was edging towards infuriating. This girl couldn't be over fourteen, and some of the things that were coming out of her mouth were just awful. She had this habit of moving closer to him as she talked, as well as the gift to be blind to his insults and the obvious fact that he just wanted her to leave. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak again, Octavian scowled.

"So..." she said slowly, drawing out the word in a very poor attempt to be sultry. "I've got the F, C, and K. All I need is U."

This could not be happening - there was no way a fourteen year old was hitting on him (and doing a shitty job of it). Octavian ignored her and glanced over his shoulder. He was loitering next to one of those ridiculous gift shops, waiting for someone to come back out and join him. It had been at least ten minutes already, and he was beginning to think she was having a good laugh watching his increasingly discomfort with this stupid girl.

As the girl opened her mouth to let another horrible line out, he snapped. "You know, I was willing to be patient with you," he said, glaring at the small girl next to him. "To tolerate you, even, but you are fourteen-"

She shrugged. "Age doesn't matter."

In a desparate attempt to get her to leave, he said the first thing he thought of. "Did I forget to mention? I have a girlfriend. So you can stop - don't touch me."

The girl looked at him innocently - a really good look, seeing as how her hand was shoved into his back pocket. She looked at his glare, and slid even closer to him. "I bet I could please you better than this girlfriend of yours..."

Octavian wasted no time in shoving her off of him. "You really shouldn't be saying things like that."

The girl rolled her eyes and pouted. "What makes this girlfriend so much better than me?"

"For one," he answered. "she isn't fourteen."

"That's it...?"

"It's a big plus." Octavian set back to ignoring her. He was about to take another large glup of the coffee in his hands only to remember that it was, sadly, empty. Damn. He cast a look around for a nearby concession stand to get another, but that damned girl latched onto his arm again. "Get off," he snarled.

"Does this girlfriend even exist?"

"Yes. Now let go of me."

She tightened her hold. "What's her name then?"

And the first name he thought of spilled out: "Rachel." He scowled.

She noticed, and slid her other arm around his neck. "Doesn't sound so great. You don't even seem like you like her all that much."

Octavian snatched his arm from her grasp and jumped back from her. Being touched like that, by a much younger girl, was enough to make his skin crawl. "Oh, she's fantastic," he said. The girl still looked skeptical - and ready to jump him - so he continued quickly. "Absolutely amazing, and creative, smart."

He paused. She frowned.

"...and she has a voice that she likes to describe as 'sexy'."

"..Is it?" the girl asked. She was looking less and less sure of herself.

"No." Then, before the girl could any ideas, he said, "I'd say its more the equivalent of angels singing."

Now she looked like she was going to melt into the sidewalk. As a last ditch effort, she said, "...W-Well, then, she's gotta be hideous-"

Octavian frowned. "She's the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen."

At that, the girl's frown deepened. A furious shade of red covered her face and she turned, bolting back the way she had come and diving behind another gift shop. Satisfied, Octavian tossed his empty cup into the garbage and set back to wait for Rachel.

**_extra special notes: _**_and then, lo and behold, the next entry shall be a continuation of this one. when rach actually shows up. look forward to it._


	5. Chapter 5

_**word count: **340_  
><em><strong>notes: <strong>oh. its shorter. did i forget to mention. they're at a carnival. /flee _

Not too long after the young girl had fled, the door to the shop opened behind him. He heard footsteps and, without even turning to see who it was, said, "What the hell took you so long?" By then, Rachel was standing beside him, and he turned to see her grinning at him. Octavian sighed. She had to have been watching his distress.

Rachel was visibly holding back laughter. "I had no idea," she said slowly. "that you were so popular with the girls, Octavian."

Octavian rolled his eyes. He sorely wished that he could understand why the things that bothered him amused her so.

"Although, you should probably chose someone older than that one," Rachel said.

"...You know very well I wasn't flirting with that girl."

Rachel's grin widened. "Oh, I know. Why flirt with her when you have such a _gorgeous girlfriend,_ right?" She started laughing. He stared at her blankly until she calmed down a bit.

"Eavesdropping, were you?" he said. He tried to make it sound as if she had done something awful - but her laughter was causing him to laugh. Just like always; it was absurd how difficult it was for him to get upset with her.

Her dying laughter flared up again. She stepped closer to him, linking their arms together. "Now," she said, gesturing at the rides and shops and games littering the area. "Accompany me on all these rides. Play all these games with me. Buy me a gift or two. Do everything I tell you because I'm your _gorgeous girlfriend_."

He shook his head. "Stop talking-"

"Why? I thought I had the_ voice of an angel_."

"I said that to get her to leave me alone-"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure you did."

"Whatever, Rachel."

She was still grinning, and still talking, as she pulled him off in the direction of the nearest ride.


	6. Chapter 6

_**word count:** between 890 and 920._  
><em><strong>notes:<strong> my word processor can't handle counting words apparently. i don't understand it anymore.  
><strong>actual drabble related notes:<strong> everyone feels lonely at some point. Everyone. also, just. uh. always assume the two camps are visiting one another. just roll with it._

It was triggered by some offhand comment, something he had just happened to overhear. A stupid conversation between two younger campers. It had worked well enough, though, to pull up that sense of overwhelming loneliness and ruin his entire day. It didn't really make sense - but then, again, it never did. It would always hit him at random, and without warning.

Maybe it was because he was at Camp Half-Blood instead of his home, but it was so much harder to stay calm. So much harder to even appear normal. There were kids everywhere, laughing and going about their daily activities. And Octavian stood at the edge of the forest, leaning against a tree, trying to find somewhere not crawling with people. He wanted to be alone, like always, until the entire feeling melted away and he could continue his day normally.

It was useless. Gods, there were even kids up where he was - a small group of girls, gossiping as they lingered just within the woods. They were too busy with themselves to even notice he was there, and that was just fine with him. If he wasn't being despised, he was ignored. That was how it usually went.

With a heavy sigh, Octavian slid down the tree until he hit the grass underneath it. He gazed out towards the lake blankly. It was summer, the camp in full-swing and campers were using their free time to discard those horrible orange shirts and dive in.

Those stupid orange shirts were everywhere. Octavian frowned. The color was brighter in the sun. It was making his eyes burn. …or maybe that was the tears threatening to fall. He ripped his eyes from the flurry of movement, from the groups of all the campers, and looked at a distant spot on the horizon. Just because he was alone was no reason to cry. Being hated was no reason to give up and cry.

_Tears are a sign of weakness_, he told himself. He could wait this out, fight it back on his own. He always did.

Only… Someone was coming over to him. Twigs were snapping as footsteps fell. Octavian prepared himself to turn away whoever it was; when he turned his gaze, it was just in time to see Rachel Elizabeth Dare settle down beside him. She held two cups of iced coffee and held one over to him before he had the chance to speak.

He took it without saying a word, staring first at it and then at her. He was supposed to drive her away, but when he started to talk, all that came out was, "What are you doing..?"

"You looked a little lonely," she said with a shrug. "What's up?"

Instead of answering, he drank from the coffee, taking his time to get his thoughts in order. He thought he should probably still turn her away, even if she had noticed and actually bothered to come over. It'd be easier to not answer. Even easier to get up and leave, to find somewhere else to think. But that'd be ridiculous. He'd be lying to himself if he so much as even thought about wanting to be alone right now. Besides, it was Rachel. "Just… people," he said quietly.

Rachel scooted closer, to the point where they were touching at the shoulders and the hips. "People? That's it?" She set the coffee in her hand down next to her. "Can't you be more specific than 'just people'?"

Octavian frowned. He didn't want to explain. It sounded so stupid when it was said out loud. So pathetically stupid. He started to drink more, but Rachel reached over and snatched the drink from him, setting it beside her own.

"You know you can tell me," she said softly. "There's something up with you, and I'm not going to let you weasel your way out of saying anything."

And he had a feeling that she believed every word of what she said. She wasn't going to leave him, not unless he told her the truth. He wondered, briefly, if she could tell when he was lying as well as she could tell when something bothered him. She probably could. Or at least, he wouldn't be surprised if she could. And he'd rather not take the chance to be called out on a lie - not with Rachel, anyway. He had been trying his hardest not to make her angry with him lately. So he told her. The whole damned conversation he'd overheard, from the quip about him always being on his own to how he should really just leave the Greek camp to how it wouldn't matter _where_ he was seeing as no one liked him anyway.

It was still stupid. One of the more ridiculous comments that he usually would have ignored. And while he was dwelling on that, Rachel moved, sitting up on her knees, and pulled him into a hug. Her arms were around his shoulders, holding him tightly.

He blinked. "Uh, Rach-"

"Shut up, Octavian."

For once, he listened and stayed silent. He rested his head on her shoulder, eyes closed, and brought his arms to hold her just as tightly. This was what he needed, and somehow, she had known that.

This was perfect.


	7. Chapter 7

_**word count:** about 800?_  
><em><strong>notes:<strong> just a remainder: i au the hell out of this. ok? ok._

He held two tickets in front of her face, grinning widely. And that was all she could really see around the tickets: His grin, illuminated by the soft rays of the setting sun before them. She reached up slowly, taking him by the wrist and lowering his hand until she could see his entire face and not a pair of tickets whose words she couldn't even read. In the darkening sky, his eyes actually seemed to sparkle - and that was certainly one thing out of the ordinary for such a grumpy kid. He looked so excited that her first instinct was to tease him for it, for the rarity of it. But she bit it back, and smiled.

"All right," she said, patting the grass beside her. "Sit down and tell me what's going on."

He paused, the grin on his face faltering briefly, before he complied and dropped to the ground beside her. Once he was comfortable, he held up the tickets in his hand again. "I hold in my hand," he started quietly. "the trip of a lifetime."

She stared at him, brows rising, and waited for the rest of the explanation she was sure was going to come. It had to. This boy never stopped talking unless it was for a really good reason, and she had just given him an invitation to talk. Usually, he'd take a direct advantage of her silence and rant endlessly.

But now?

Nothing.

Finally, she sighed. "What trip would that be."

Evidently, that was what he had been waiting for. His face lit up again, with that rare grin that almost managed to make him handsome. Almost. He still had those bags under his eyes, and he was definitely due for early wrinkles, but... almost. Maybe he should smile more. It might help. "I have managed to win a trip to Italy," he was saying. "A trip that includes several days in Rome."

She nodded, letting him go on about all the places he was going to visit and how great it'd be to finally be able to actually be in Rome of all places before she interrupted him. "So are you taking Parker?" she asked.

The grin vanished instantly and he frowned lightly. "What?"

"The trip..." She nodded towards the two tickets in his hand. "You've got two tickets, augur, so you're obviously takin' someone with you."

His frown deepened.

She frowned as well, though she wasn't aware of it. He was just so easily irritated lately. "Just figured you'd take your little boyfriend with you," she said lightly. "You can go back to describing the wonders of Rome."

Instead, he shook his head. That stupid frown remained on his face and he sighed. "No," he said flatly. "I'm not taking Parker." He neglected to snap back about the 'boyfriend' comment, another unusual thing. Usually, one comment like that would set him off into joking insults. "If I'm going to go to Rome, I was planning on taking you."

She blinked. Stared at him. Stared a little while longer. "...Sorry? What was that?" she said after a good, long pause. "I could not have heard that right. You want me to go to Rome? With you?"

He didn't answer. At least he'd stopped frowning.

"You do realize that you only have two tickets, right?" she went on.

Again, no answer. His eyes were lit up again, and he looked a bit amused. Defintely preferred amused to the frown.

That grin of his was better. It was cute.

She paused, leaned forward just a bit and said quietly, "Are you taking me on an elaborate, romantic vacation for two? Is this how the Romans woo a girl?" She smirked.

He sighed. "Will you just accept the offer to go with me and stop dragging it out?" He sounded worn out, but he was starting to smile.

A grin spread over her face and she laughed. "Hey, augur," she said, leaning in even closer to him. "You didn't say it wasn't a romantic vacation for two."

Without missing a beat, he answered back, "I know, oracle." He narrowed his eyes at her. "You didn't give me an answer."

She grinned. Couldn't really help it at this point, since this whole conversation was startlingly different from what she usually expected from him. "Well... okay, I guess," she said.

That grin was back in an instant, the spark in his eyes with it.

Yeah. Yeah, all right, he was totally cute when he grinned like that.

_**other notes:** holy shit i'm sorry this drivel is all that came out of those 3 or 4 months i lacked on doing anything for this. _


	8. Chapter 8

_**word count: **1436_  
><em><strong>notes:<strong> read mark of athena. wanted to write stupid fic. so many stupid fics. there's no telling how many stupid fics i'll write. guess the line that brought this up. guess it, and then judge me horrendously for using it as a starting point. also oops its been like, what? 3 or 4 months? haha._

Octavian was not making a face of absolute disgust. He was far above such things. And he was not considering feeding the food to the nearest hungry stray dogs either – or, in the case that no strays were around, the nearest hungry dumpster. It was just… this was not at all what he had expected. He glanced up from the food on the table to his da- to the redheaded girl who had dragged him here. She had no problem with eating, hell she seemed almost happy about it, but that was to be expected since she had chosen the place.

She looked over a slice of grease-laden cheese pizza, silently asking what his deal was, why he wasn't enjoying the lunch as much as he should.

Octavian looked away from her, across the street and into the park. There were groups of people standing around, lots of people. Quite a few of them had dogs, and some of them were playing with ducks in the pond. It was very boring to look at, but it'd have to do because Octavian was not going to spend this entire lunch staring over the table. And the urge to not stare had nothing to do with the fact that, from where he was sitting, Rachel Dare's eyes were a brighter green than normal.

It was almost excruciating to look at her.

So he didn't. He settled for watching the mortals play their silly games with their dogs and hoped for at least one of them to fall into the pond to make the scene more interesting.

"Octavian."

"What?"

"Are you gonna eat or what?"

One of the couples across the street were getting very into their goodbye kiss. It was disgusting.

"I don't eat pizza, Rach."

"You're… kidding, right? Everyone loves pizza."

"It's greasy and disgusting, and it can't be healthy."

A little girl and her dog pranced into the park. The girl, even from this distance, looked a bit mischievous. Maybe the dog was her guide.

It was another minute before he realized that there was no noise coming from the other side of the table. No slurping drinks or scraping utensils as she snatched up another slice of pizza. None of the rusting of fabric as she moved and brushed against the loose cloth spread over the table. And not a single word. Octavian looked away from the little girl and her dog and straight into the bright green eyes he had turned from in the first place.

Rachel Dare was staring at him, her face nearly expressionless. The corners of her mouth had slightly pulled downwards, but it was the look in her eyes that caught his attention. It was fiery, challenging, and it was somehow one of the most frightening things he had ever seen. He wondered if it would be exaggerating to say that at that moment everything around them had slowed. He was sure his heart had never jumped into his throat and beat so hard – at least not at the same time.

It took a great amount of work just to ask "…What?" More work than he would ever admit to having put into it.

Rachel tilted her head. "What's so interesting at the park over there?"

That really should have been an easy question, but Octavian was positive that if he answered this wrong he would be in a lot of trouble. Too bad that the only response he could think of was, "Nothing" and that, probably, wasn't what she was hoping to hear. Probably.

He really had no way of knowing.

Rachel Dare was too mysterious for someone so awfully goofy at times. It was unnerving.

"Nothing," Rachel repeated slowly. Her eyes narrowed, flickered over to the park and back to Octavian. "If it's nothing, then why have you spent the whole time we've been here staring there?"

"I-" He stopped, throat constricting and making it hard to breathe, like hard coils of steel had spun around his neck. Octavian had a bad habit of not thinking before he spoke around Rachel. It usually included him saying whatever popped into his mind first and that was something that he did not like – especially in situations like right now, when he had been so close to saying _"I didn't want to look at your eyes"_. Not only would that have been incredibly embarrassing, there was a high chance it would have sounded like an insult.

And the last thing Octavian wanted to do was insult Rachel Dare. So, instead, he said, "I was hoping to see someone fall into the pond." It wasn't exactly a lie, so maybe this irrational need to- …_habit of_ telling the truth around Rachel would accept it and not dog him with guilt for the rest of the day.

Rachel frowned. She blinked once, then twice, and snorted. "…Are you serious?"

Slowly, Octavian nodded.

"Why?"

He was silent. She looked slightly less like she was going to throttle him, although Octavian was sure that would still be an option if he didn't fix… well, he wasn't sure. There was something to fix. He knew that much, otherwise she wouldn't still have that glint in her eyes that terrified him to the bone.

And that was certainly one thing Octavian would never admit to anyone. He hardly ever allowed himself to even admit to being afraid, and here he sat, nearly shaking with the effort to not piss her off even more. "I… thought it might make the park more interesting to look at."

"If it's boring, why are you looking?" Rachel cast another glance at the park, then whipped back to Octavian, pinning him to the seat of his chair with one look. Logic was pushing that Rachel was probably confused about his story, and he should understand that, but all Octavian could think about was if all girls were this frightening or if it was just her.

If it was just her, Octavian would really like to know why he was seconds away from fleeing the scene.

"No… real reason," he said, his voice quiet.

The frown still on her face deepened and, yes, he could see a bit of confusion working into her eyes. …which he still could not look at for too long. Something about the way the light hit her made all the shades of her hair stand out in stark contrast with the green of her eyes and it was just a little bit too much. He understood, vaguely, that all he was doing was staring at her and not saying anything. The silence between them was lasting way too long, and his answers to her questions were pathetic.

But, gods save him, now that he was looking at her, right at her – right into those beautiful eyes – he didn't know if he wanted to look away or not. He didn't even know if he could anymore.

It was a few seconds before Rachel grinned at him. And it lit up her eyes even more.

"You're kind of bad at this date thing, aren't you, augur?"

Octavian's eyes widened. He blanched and, hurriedly, fished for words. Unfortunately, the only thing that he managed to get out was, "It… it's not a date!" Really, he was automatically mad at himself for not coming up with anything better, and even angrier that his voice had apparently shot up an octave to that level that the other legionaries liked to tease him about. The fact that Rachel had instantly erupted into laughter was not helping. "Why- Will you please stop laughing?"

Rachel managed to choke back her laughter for the time being and, beaming now, said, "Of course it's a date, augur. I'm not stupid." She shrugged, her red hair bouncing over her shoulder.

Octavian fidgeted in his chair and tried to ignore the sudden onset of nerves twisting in his stomach. He didn't say anything to confirm or deny the whole 'date' matter, and Rachel shook her head. She picked up her abandoned pizza slice and set to work on devouring it, and Octavian let his eyes wander back across the street. It was just as boring as it had been minutes before, but at least the sight of it was helping his nerves settle down. Underneath the table, Rachel nudged his leg with hers and he glanced back at her.

"Still not eating your pizza?"

He frowned. "I told you it's disgusting."


	9. Chapter 9

**word count:** 1627  
><strong>notes: <strong>i missed christmas - mainly because i fail at keeping track of days - so here's a New Years drabble. enjoy~~~ [its unedited i got tired of looking at it]

The very last day of the year and it was freezing cold. For maybe the tenth time that day, Octavian wondered just what the hell he was doing in New York. It hadn't snowed much the few days he had been there, but it was snowing now and every flake that landed on his face sent a prick of freezing cold anger straight to his head. He hated snow. He hated the cold. He hated New York City right now, hated the huge rising skyscrapers and hated the fact that he was standing at the corner of a street at almost and waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Honestly, if he had to wait out here in the cold for one more godsdamned minute-

"Sorry, sorry!"

He turned just in time to watch Rachel skid to a stop beside him. She looked like she was in a great mood, grinning at him, and the redness across her cheeks from the cold actually made her look... well, kind of really adorable. Octavian frowned at his own thoughts. He was glad he was already cold because of the snow and below freezing weather otherwise he would have maybe blushed and that definitely would have been embarrassing.

Rachel held out both hands. In each, she held a cup of steaming coffee, fresh from Starbucks. "Pick one," she said brightly. "Be surprised at what's inside."

Octavian blinked. "...Didn't you just go inside to use the bathroom?"

She laughed. "Yeah, like fifteen minutes ago. I had to get something else and thought of you, all alone in the cold out here. You poor, stupid boy, couldn't even go inside..." Rachel shook the drinks in her hands. "So I thought, hey! I should bring that dumb augur a treat."

He grabbed one of her wrists, keeping his grip light and tugged the drink close enough to smell it.

Rachel's grin faded slightly. "...What are you doing?"

"I don't want to drink something awful that you might have picked out," he said. He let go of her wrist and grabbed for the other.

"Why, I have perfect taste, Octavian. I would never pick out a horrible drink, even if I was intending to give it to your sour ass."

"That was rude, Rach." He took one of the cups and drank from it. So much warmth from just one cup of coffee. It was the best weather for StarBucks and Rachel had surprisingly picked out a delicious drink. "Are you going to tell me what I'm doing in New York City today? Because I had to do an awful lot of talking to get out of a party at my parents place in New Rome, and the cohort was doing something as well, so-"

"Oh, shut up." She took his free hand with hers and started pulling him across the street. "You love to talk. All you ever do is talk."

Octavian rolled his eyes. He certainly didn't talk as much as she was right now.

Over half an hour later, the cold had settled into his very bones, he was absolutely positive of that fact, and he couldn't wait to get indoors. Rather than ever answer his question and tell him what she was up to, Rachel had rambled on the entire walk, baiting him into stupid arguments and laughing an awful lot when he got irritated enough for his voice to climb an octave. And then he had snapped at her, and she laughed some more, and now they were standing in front of Rachel Dare's front door and he was annoyed. Annoyed at the cold and the stupid snow that was falling even harder now, and annoyed that she had gotten around answering him, and annoyed even more when the door opened and they stepped inside and her father automatically pinned him with a stare that promised a very early death if he did anything out of line at all. Octavian had been over before. The look was always the same. Always. He still wasn't sure what her father's deal was, but whatever. All he had to do was act like the proper person he was somewhere on the inside.

It took several minutes for them to get past her parents and even more to navigate through a party they had evidently set up – although there was some food set up that Octavian helped himself to while Rachel talked with people. He was around her long enough during that horror that he could tell that almost everything she said was faked and covered with a nice polite air. So as soon as he could shove her along out of the way of the guests, he did, and she didn't say much while she led him up to her room.

Rachel wasn't no time in plopping herself on her bed and kicking off her shoes. Octavian, though, didn't really want to touch anything. The room was a mess, which he didn't really mind, but paint was everywhere. Paint on the floors, paint on sheets meant to protect paintings from being messed up. He was pretty sure that if he looked for it, he'd probably find a few splotches of paint on the bedsheets as well. It was normal for her, he guessed. He'd only been in her house a couple of times – as far as he could tell, Rachel Dare was willing to take him all over the city if it meant she didn't have to take him here. He glanced over at Rachel, who had shrugged off her whole winter ensemble – coat, scarf, and hat all sat in a pile at the corner of the bed. She was fussing with her hair now, trying to untangle it and pull it up at the same time.

"Rachel."

"What?"

"What the hell am I doing here?"

She smiled and her eyes lit up. "My parents made it mandatory that I at least show my face to all their annoying friends, but I didn't want to stay down there or stay up here alone. So I brought you home to entertain me."

Octavian stared at her blankly. "...I'm supposed to entertain you?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. Now come over here and take off your clothes."

Apparently the look on his face was hilarious, because Rachel erupted into laughter again. "Your coat..." she said between laughs. "I meant... your coat... God, you are so dumb."

He snapped back at her, as he usually did, but came to sit by her anyway. His jacket was tossed to the edge of the bed with Rachel's things, and when he turned to her, she was up and rustling around at the front of a TV. "...What are you doing now?"

"Gonna put on a movie, duh. What else are we supposed to do until midnight?"

He knew she was smiling just by the tone of her voice. "What movie...?" he asked slowly. Since Rachel's idea of a good night of television was things like Gossip Girl, he wasn't too enthused about her idea of a good movie.

"A really good one" was her answer as she sat back down beside him on the mess of a bed. She pulled her legs up under her and leaned against him, focusing on the movie. But not five minutes into it, and Octavian made a snide comment about the storyline and the main character being a stereotypical down-on-her-luck girl. From there, it wound up with both of them critiquing the movie and Rachel trying to bait him into getting so annoyed that his voice would crack again – because for some reason, it was the greatest thing when it did – and when the movie ended, Rachel turned the TV to watch the ball drop.

"This is a stupid tradition," Octavian said. It was almost midnight now and he was tired of sitting in this room and staring at a television. Especially when it was just showing the ball dropping for New Years. "And New Years is a stupid holiday." There really was so much he could be doing, even if all of his work was back in New Rome. "Do we really have to watch this?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes. Yes, we do. It is New Years, augur, and this is an important part of the celebration."

"It's a stupid ball dropping. And a lot of unnecessary filming of overly excited drunken mortals."

"Do you really have to find a problem with everything?"

"I do not find a problem with everything."

"Oh-h-h, yes you do."

When he opened his mouth to respond, Rachel slapped her hand across it. He glared at her. "Shhh. It's the countdown." He wanted to say something about how ridiculously excited she was about this, but when she removed her hand and turned back to the television to countdown with the crowd all he ended up doing was watching her. Watching as her excitement built until it rivaled the crowds', as it reflected in her eyes as she turned to him. And then, just as the crowd on television screamed in celebration, Rachel leaned up and kissed him.

Octavian froze. It lasted only a few seconds; the televised crowd was still screaming in joy but that sounded miles away. When Rachel pulled back, she was smiling. "Happy New Year, augur."

It was a few more seconds before Octavian said anything, and she grinned the whole time. Even then all he got out clearly was "You-?!"

"It was a kiss, augur, I know."

"But-"

"I was going to say 'don't freak out', but you already are. It's cute."

"Rachel-!"


End file.
